40 Years of Exceptional Programs For audiences eager to hear illuminating discussions by today’s most in-demand speakers, William Paterson University offers the Distinguished Lecturer Series (DLS)—an event that began in 1980 and brings illustrious personalities from the worlds of politics, government, the arts, literature, sports, science, and business, along with original programs—to Wayne, New Jersey. Jon Meacham, one of America’s most prominent public intellectuals and a New York Times best-selling author, spoke to a full house at the Shea Center for Performing Arts in the fall about the 2016 presidential election. Previous speakers include Robert Krulwich, Mitch Albom, Jacques Pepin and Claudia Pepin, Daniel Levitin and Roseanne Cash, Harold Prince, Gloria Steinem, Diane Ravitch. actor Al Pacino, New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox general managers Brian Cashman and Theo Epstein, musical theatre composer Stephen Sondheim, New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, former Secretary of State Colin Powell, former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, film directors Oliver Stone and Spike Lee, performer Gregory Hines, and writers Alice Walker and Joyce Carol Oates to more than 100,000 audience members who have attended DLS since its inception.Read more on history page
